Prepared for the Pediatrician

Each year it is recommended to take your child for an annual check-up. Being prepared for the pediatrician doesn’t just mean having your insurance card handy. This annual appointment gives the doc the chance to see how your little/big one has grown over the last year and make recommendations for vaccinations, healthy living and more. My 8 year old was prepared for the pediatrician with her list of concerns.

At this year’s 8-year check up, my daughter came more prepared than most adults do for their annuals. Throughout the last months every time my daughter would complain about some ailment – obviously I would first check to make sure it isn’t something super severe – I would recommend that she jot it down for when she saw her doctor in the Fall.

This morning as we got all set to go, she grabbed her list. She had lost the the original, and made a new one last night. She read through her concerns to me. Boy was I happy she had written them down, because I had certainly forgotten half of them.

When we arrived at the 9 AM appointment she felt more confident than ever. She’s always been very brave about going to the doctor – well, with everything but getting shots. The doctor did the basics and then my daughter asked her if she could share her concerns. The doctor was thrilled.

Going Through the List

Line item by line item, she went down the list. Her first concern was bellyaches at night. The doctor recommended more fiber. She discussed how bellyaches in children are often caused by not going to the bathroom frequently enough. She reminded her of the importance of eating fruits and veggies and drinking extra water. She gave her loads of suggestions on how she could alleviate the aches. My daughter had a plan and it in many ways was her responsibility to implement. The doc also recommended sprinkling Benefiber or the like on her food.

The next item on the list was her somewhat frequent headaches. The two of them spent time talking about the headaches, their intensity and what might be the triggers. The doctor connected for her the bellyaches with the headaches, in suggesting that dehydration might be causing both. My daughter was reminded again to drink her entire bottle of water that Daddy puts in her lunchbox each day. Might buy her a new, more fun, water bottle to encourage her. Check out this water bottle I saw on Amazon.

Her itchy spot on her belly was ruled to be Eczema. She had complained about that itchiness for some time now. Happy she remembered to ask the doc about it. She now understands how important it is to moisturize it each day. Thankfully I have loads of Eczema moisturizer on hand for work I did earlier in the year.

The last item was about getting car sick when she plays on the ipad in the car. Both the doctor and myself knew exactly where she was coming from as we have suffered the agony of car sickness since being young girls, as well. Guess what her advice was? The same that you probably give – don’t use the ipad in the car. She also suggested holding a glass of cold water in the car. I’ve never tried that. Will do so next time!

Smart Shopping List

Here are some of the tools that we used to make today’s experience so wonderful. I’ve also included a few items that I will now purchase. All links lead you Amazon and most are Amazon Prime products! Yes, I do make a few pennies for each purchase.

notepad

pencils

water bottle

Eczema moisturizer

Benefiber

Empowering Our Children

When we take a moment to remember that our children are future adults, we need to find ways to best prepare them for adulthood. Teaching her how to have concern for her body and seek the advice from a doctor is a lifeskill that she has really mastered today. My daughter walked out of that doctor’s appointment feeling confident, and most importantly knowing how she is the one ultimately responsible for her body and taking care of it.

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10 comments

What great advice! I used to write a list but as my daughter gets older (she is 10 now), many of her complaints have resolved (except those persistent growing pains in her feet and ankles at night!) so I have been negligent but I love the idea of getting her comfortable advocating for her own health and understanding the connections between what we put in our bodies and how they feel. I too need to get my daughter to drink more water!

I really learned a lot from my daughter. I always mean to jot down my own issues and forget to – then I go to the doctor and he asks me if I have any concerns and of course I can’t remember a thing! LOL!

Love that your daughter felt empowered to make her own list for the doctor’s appointment. I always make my own, mainly because I can’t brain half the time between the two kids keeping me on my toes, but encouraging her to bring her own is genius. As you said, it makes a lot of the self-care her responsibility, a good lesson to keep in mind as she gets older.